A Hazy Shade of Winter
by evelinaonline
Summary: Ben's biggest mistake was thinking that hanging out with Five wouldn't result in anything chaotic. But when Five settles on something, it's final; even if it's eating shaved ice in the middle of winter.


**yO, HELLO, WHAT'S UP, IM BACK!**

**This one is, once again, based on a tumblr request by seven-misfits: "they eat shaved ice because five is an asshole who thinks ice in winter is acceptable. not even ice cream smh he needs to STOP"**

**Technically this was a holiday request... But I'm still gonna post it. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"I want dessert."

Five's words made Ben stop in the middle of the sidewalk. At that moment, he, too, wanted dessert more than anything in the world, but there were so many options, and it wasn't just up to him.

Like many times before, Ben and Five had gone out to pay a visit to the library. It was a cold day, one of the coldest winter had to offer, and Ben looked like a snowman with all the layers he was wearing. _It's not my fault that I get cold easily, _he'd told Klaus when he made fun of him before they left. The monsters in his stomach made it really hard for Ben's temperature to stay up. They liked the cold.

Five, on the other hand, was doing just fine with Vanya's old coat. He kept his hands in his pockets, and buried his face in the red scarf Mom had knitted for him when he was _actually _thirteen.

They were quite the pair, that was for sure; a seemingly 13-year-old boy with the attitude of an old man and a walking pile of clothes. It'd been fun though. They even checked out some shops before making it to the library, which was a first, especially for Five.

So yes. A waffle and a hot cup of chocolate sounded like a dream right about now.

And then it hit him.

"Oh, I know! There's this really nice diner right around the corner," Ben said, and took his hand out of his pocket to point to their left. "Not as good as Griddy's, but—"

"No." Five interrupted him. "I have a better idea."

Ben _would _have tried to stop his brother, if he even could. But Five had reached out for Ben's hand and teleported them both to the other side of town—his jumps were getting more and more strong, Ben noticed—and then proceeded to drag him into a coffee shop Ben had never seen in his life, ordering not one, but _two _cups of—

"_SHAVED ICE?"_

Number Six was rapidly losing every single one of the brain cells he had left. Was Five trying to get them killed? And what kind of coffee shop even sold shaved ice? During _winter_, of all times?

Ben's eyes were pinned on the two colorful piles of ice in Five's hands. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the right words to express himself.

"Enjoy," Five said, handing one of the cups to Ben. They were back outside now, in the snowy streets, and Ben almost dropped the cup from shivering too much. He could have sworn it'd gotten colder.

Five shoved a plastic spoon into his ice, and then into his mouth. He didn't even flinch.

"You're kidding," Ben finally said.

Five shrugged, eating some more. "You get used to it after a while."

"After _a while?"_ Ben said. "You've only had a spoonful so far—wait a second, you've _done _this before?!"

"A total of six—no…" Five looked to the side, placing his spoon on his lip, and frowned his eyebrows the same way he did when he was in deep thought. Then, he turned back to Ben. "About seven times, why?"

Ben took a deep breath. Five was playing a trick on him. That was all. There was no way his impulse control was worse than Klaus', and Ben had seen Klaus do some really questionable things.

"Aren't you gonna eat yours?"

"Why, interested in a second cup?" Ben asked, to which Five shrugged again. He shouldn't have asked. "You know what? Why not."

Next thing Ben knew, the ice was in his mouth. The brain freeze came not two seconds later, but the sweet artificial flavor of strawberry reminded him of these late nights when the two of them and Vanya would eat poptarts a little bit too much to hate it.

_Fuck it,_ Ben thought and had another spoonful. He was going to regret it, and he knew it.

"Enjoying it?"

"Shut up."

They both spent the next day sick and in bed.

* * *

**In other words, I love them.**

**Once again, I'm going to have to apologise of the lack of content lately. Preparing for finals is not fun at all, but it has to be done, unfortunately.**

**But! Easter break is coming up so I'll have more time to write! If you have any requests, make sure to drop them off at my tumblr (evelinaonline)! And I'm still trying to figure out the right way to promote my Ko-fi (evelinaonline) without it sounding weird, oops. I'm raising money for college so any tip helps!**

**Thank you all for reading!**


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